The present invention relates to a golf ball driving practice apparatus for use as a means whereby golfers may actually practice drive golf balls prior to teeing off when such apparatus are positioned at convenient golf course locations, or where there are restricted golf ball driving practice constraints in not only breadth and length but also elevation the apparatus may be adapted for use in both indoor and outdoor driving range applications. The primary intended use of the golf ball driving practice apparatus hereof, however, is to enable a golfer on the golf course during the conduct of actual play to practice drive golf balls near a playing tee without the bother or inconvenience of interfering with other players or having to retrieve the balls.
The prior art does teach various golf ball driving practice and training devices comprised of a frame structure supporting a receiving net to serve as a means whereby golfers may conveniently and easily practice golf ball driving in a confined area, exemplary of which would be those as respectively shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,110 to Balaz dated Apr. 26, 1983, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,219 to Tillery dated Dec. 3, 1985, the latter of which also teaches a spent golf ball receiving and collection section generally as shown at 12 therein.
Although not designed for golf ball driving practice per se, the ball catching frame component of U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,272 to Lay dated Nov. 28, 1989, does show a ball return and collection structure somewhat similar to that employed by applicant herein, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 thereof at 19.
The teaching of Steen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,931 dated Nov. 3 1987, shows an apparatus for returning a ball which employs a truncated conical net and rear net attachment means comprised of multiple cord-to-frame connecting strands, being functionally similar but structurally distinguished from the conical net and rear net connecting means employed by applicant herein.
Lastly, the golf game device shown by Cornell et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,959 dated Feb. 22, 1972, teaches a rather sophisticated golf ball driving measurement and analysis device which is at the upper end of the line in terms of complexity and cost when it comes to an apparatus for golf ball driving practice, and clearly in the complexity aspect is both functionally and structurally distinguished from applicant's teaching.
The applicant's golf ball driving practice apparatus is designed and targeted to filling an intermediate need between the quite simple and highly complex practice devices, wherein the advantages of both durability and reliability, as well as portability, of a relatively simple mechanical structure are retained, while the self-contained ease and convenience of a practical and realistic on-site golf ball driving practice capability at the golf course location is afforded, wherein the current invention is distinguished over the previous teachings in that it does provide a new and novel apparatus and method for achieving the foregoing.